recent purchases

Martial Media, Culture and Other Arts Martial Media and Popular Culture
1

Today, I went to a local used shop and got these bargains:

  1. Shaw Bro’s Five Deadly Venoms(Master Arts Video, $4.99).
  2. Bruce Lee’s Game of Death(20th Cen Fox, $3.99).
  3. Jet Li’s Legend of the Red Dragon(Columbia Tristar, $3.99).
  4. Jet Li’s The Legend of the Swordsman(Dimension, $3.99).
  5. Jackie Chan is the Prisoner(Columbia Tristar, $2.99).

This weekend I found these on sale at the Mall:

  1. Zatoichi(1989, Tokyo Shock, $9.99).
  2. Zatoichi, The Television Series, Vol. 1(Tokyo Shock, $9.99).

I think I may have seen some or all of Game of Death long ago, I don’t remember. This was my 1st time to see Zatoichi, and I really liked that. I haven’t seen any of the others yet.

Chosen One

2

Ikes, it maybe cheap, but you are throwing your money away.

1- Celestial has this remastered in all it’s technicolor glory, the only way 5 Venoms should be watched.
2- I guess it really doesn’t matter what version of Game of Death you get.
3- you should have gotten New Legend of Shaolin. The version you have is dubbed and cut.
4- you have the cut version and it is dubbed of course, but still a great movie. If you want to see this in it’s entirety then get Swordsman 2 from Mei-eh.
5-Prisoner is just godawful. There is 1 good fight scene in the movie and there is a good audio commentary fom Phillip Rhee. Movies reall don’t get worse than this though.

Haven’t seen Zatoichi 89 or any of the TV series, but everything i have seen from Zatoichi has been magnificent. Those are some of the best movies ever

New DVD’s I got

Love and Sword (1979) -awesome Roc Tien movie. Even better than Elimination pursuit. $6.99

The Sword (1971) -very good Jimmy Wang Yu flick. $11 (3 for $33)

I also just got a TaI Seng 6-pack for $14.99. Leg Fighter, Killer From Above, and Challenge Death are really good. Killer of Snake Fox of Shaolin, Death Ring, and Eagles Butterflies something are all watchable, if you like bad movies that is.

3

Hi,

That Tai Seng 6-Pack sounds good. I bought a few packs, some good, some cheap and bad. That Videoasia set I got a little while back, is el cheapo, glad I only spent 6.50 for it, Super Kung Fu Box Set. I sat back to watch it’s Rickshaw Man, but the disc is defective, and the things stuck and pixalted that it was unable to play. The 2nd movie on the disc played OK.

But back to the titles at hand,

Yeah, but like I said, I only have a bit of blowing cash, and that’s what they had there at that store. If they’d had the editions you mentioned for the same dough, I’d have gotten them.

One think I have noticed in these modern dubs, is I think the older style dubs are way way better. The dub of a 70’s or 80’s flick is better than these today. What’s with that? Are these modern dubs made in the USA? Where the classic dubs also? or were they made in China?

Anyway.
Last night I watched the Game of Death. It was OK. I can imagine it being hard to make a movie without the star. Some of the scenes were crappy, like that Bruce superimpsed head over another body, that was noticable and should not have been used. But, it was OK for what it is, I thought.

I also watched The Prisoner. I liked this. I guess it didn’t technically have a lot of kung fu action, but I enjoyed it. Didn’t have much Jackie in it, as a lead, that is. The end was kinda confusing, but I guess they just played them to do their dirty work.

I sampled the Jet Li flicks, yeah, I know they arn’t the “definitive” issues. I didn’t realize I was getting Crouching Tiger clones though, which I do enjoy, though.

The 5 Deadly Venoms I had been wanting, this issue don’t have a super picture, but hey, where does one even get the celestial version? Is it available in the US, for this region? I don’t know, it was 4.99, I’m good with it for now.

Chosen One

4

I wouldn’t consider the Jet Li flicks clones of Crouching tiger. they came long before. New Legend of Shaolin is crap, but Jet with a spear makes it worth watching. the villain is also a badass. Swordsman 2 (legend of swordsman) is a masterpiece. It is my favorite wuxia ever, and that is saying a lot.

For the remastered Celestial versions of 5 venoms, you would need the region 3 IVL version, the bootleg Red Sun version, or you could just wait and in the next year this will come out English dubbed in the US. Make sure you get at soem point though, I can’t even describe how beautiful this movie looks. And that goes for all of the remastered Shaw Brothers movies.

And make sure you check out Kung Fu Zombie on that 10 pack. If that disc don’t work, the set isn’t worth a penny.

5

The English dubbing that was done in the '70s and '80s was better because for the most part, they weren’t using Americans to dub. Most of the dubbers were British, and contrary to popular belief, did quite a good job at it. Sometimes those old dubbers could really get into the character. For just one example, check out the crazy Taoist drunk in Shaolin Drunkard; the guy who did his voice did a lot of voices in movies, and makes the character even funnier.

I can’t stand the re-dubbed English voices on the 20th Century-Fox Golden Harvest releases. They seem to use ****y CA surfer-dude accents. That’s why on those, I only watch the original Cantonese versions.

BTW, if you watch the movie Excalibur (my all-time favorite movie), listen to the voices of a lot of the actors. Several of them have accents almost identical to the commonly-heard old-school English voice dubbers of KF movies. Especially pay attention when Merlin speaks. You’ll notice the similarities as the movie goes on.

6

It is 100% true that the British were the best and the Americans who do the voice dubbing should really be embarrassed. Legend of a Fighter and Shaolin vs. Lama are 2 great dub jobs that quickly come to mind. My favorite dub job ever is Claws of Steel.

7

Kinda off-topic, but when I was on one of my stays in Hong Kong, I happened to turn on the TV and there was a local news special on Chungking Mansions, a rather notorious rat warren of hotels, residences, and businesses in one bizarre complex in Kowloon (oddly enough, I was staying there at the time). The voice narrator of the news show was the same guy who dubbed countless KF movies; a very famous example is Gordon Liu’s english-dubbed voice in Master Killer, Billy Chong’s voice in Jade Claw, etc., etc. The voice is unmistakeable. So apparently, at least in his case, he was actually a professional media person they got to dub movies with. (obviously, most of the dubbing of the HK and Taiwan KF films was most certainly done in HK, back then a British Crown colony).

8

Kung Fu Zombie

Yesterday I watched Kung Fu Zombie. I did like it, a lot, I think. But what made it so bad was the dvd presentation. I was thinking of getting other Videoasia stuff, but now, I don’t think so. It’s just, the quality is even worse than the dollar releases at Wal-mart. Kung Fu Zombie may be a classic if given a proper DVD release. The picture was watchable, but it obviously came from a widescreen with subtitles(probably a VDC), and then cropped to fullscreen. So, the subs often cut off on the sides, and it was hard to follow it, and also quite a few spots had no subs at all. Apart from the dead ghost wanting to be “reincarnated”, I did not get the other side story at all. I did like the effects and premise. If this was in a decent widescreen transfer, or a decent image pan and scan with good full subs, my enjoyment of this would have been raised 100 percent.

Chosen One

PS. They also had a Billy Wong(I think that’s his name) interview, that was uberweak, it seemed to me the interviewer sounded rude.

PPS. How are the labels: Ground Zero? Crash? Fortune 5?

9

Fortune 5 = Videoasia
Groundzero = crap

Crash Cinema used to be good intil they put out that stupid Venom Mob series. All of those versions are unwachable.

Like I said about Videoasia when you first asked, “NEVER BUY ANYTHIGN FROM VIDEOASIA”. I think they have like 4 good releases out of 1000. Not that good of a ratio.

FYI on Kung Fu Zombie-the Videoasia version is actually not bad, compared to other versions that is. The subs are really not important. I think I can sum the story up for you pretty quick. Billy Chong’s dad beats him every day so he will become a kung fu master. Kwan Young Moon comes to beat up Billy Chong’s dad, he convinces his son to beat the villain for him. After Kwan Young Moon dies, the stocky guy and the Taoist guy (Chan Lau) look to use Moon’s body for their plan from the start of the movie. The reason I didn’t mention the plot at the beginning of the movie is because at this point we find out that Kwan Young Moon is too strong and their plan just won’t work. He becomes liek a vampire, and it gets really weird from there.

It’s certianly not a great movie, but is worth watching for that awesome fight between Billy Chong and Kwang Young Moon.

And yeah, I also noticed the interviewer being rude. That guy was the worst interviewer I have ever heard.

10

Can’t stop buying!

Yeah, I get into something, and I just go crazy with it. But I’m unemployed, and just manipulate best I can what I have money wise, so I try and seek out deals.

Anyway, today I bought some stuff:

Shaw Bros, Legendary Weapons of China(NS Video). $4.00.
Jet Li and the Legend of Wong Fei Hung, 6 Feature(Fortune 5). $4.00.

and I got this free, cuz the disc was kinda messy lookin’,
Sonny Chiba double feature.

  1. Karate Warriors.
  2. The Bodyguard.

I can’t get over how many movies Sonny Chiba has made. I already have a ton of them, but still missing a lot.

I also got in the mail:

Martial Arts Collection. 9 movies(St.Clair Vision). $6.59.

1.Chinese Connection.
2.Kung Fu: The Punch of Death.
3.Dragon Princess.
4.Samurai Reincarnation.
5.Snake-Crane Secret.
6.Duel of the Iron Fists.
7.Legend of the 8 Samurai.
8.Militant Eagle.
9.Dragon Lee Vs. The Five Brothers.

I had some of these movies already in other packs, but 5 of them I wanted.

And I recently ordered the Kung Fu 20 Movie Pack. Only one in that pack I already have, The Street Fighter, which is great, but is in like every set.

When I first decided to collect martial arts movies, I was originally thinking I didn’t want the value packs, but I have found them so low-priced, and actually, most of their movies are great classics.

Comments are welcomed.

Chosen One.

11

Dude, you need to read my comments. Fortune 5 IS Videoasia. Please don’t complain abotu their DVD’s again, because you have been warned now many times

Also, I don’t know what NS Video is, but I know you got screwed. Image Entertainment just released Legendary Weapons of China and you will never find a better version of this movie. Picture quality is seriously as good as it gets, it has a good Mandarin track, and an English dub!

12

Videoasia

Yes, yes. I do realize Videoasia is low-quality, and I do know it is also Fortune 5, and Ventura Dist. Now, that don’t mean I won’t ever buy them. But I do realize it won’t be the best. I got that Jet Li thing, because I was curious, it was $19.99 at the mall, and on Amazon sellers, the lowest was about $15. So when I saw it for $4, I got it. I know it may be crap, but I was willing to sacrifice four bucks. Also, the Shaw movie, yes, I know it’s not the top quality release of it. I think that NS Video is a part of Crash. But, also, it was four bucks, so what the heck.

Chosen One

13

NS Video and Crash Cinema have no relation whatsoever. Problem is, for like 8-10 bucks, you could have gotten the ultimate edition of Legendary Weapons, now you just have to hope your disc plays and has watchable picture quality.

And the Jet Li 6-pack- skip all the movies and just watch the documentary. Maybe the best Shaolin documentary I have ever seen.

14

OK, here is the link for the Weapons of China version I got. It’s on Ground Zero.

http://www.hkcinema.co.uk/Reviews/legendaryweaponsofchina.htm

Haven’t watched it yet. I did see the other version but it was $14.99.

I just don’t have much cash right now, and while it’s not the best version released, it was 4 bucks.

Maybe later when I get a better financial situation, I’ll upgrade to the better versions, or if I see them cheap somewhere, I’ll pick them up.

I just don’t have an income right now.

I did start watching that “Jet Li” disc, so far I have just seen part of a documentary about Kung Fu and China.

Chosen One

15

I picked up the Image release of Legendary Weapons of China as a treat; I have not been buying very many KF movies lately. Will be watching it tonight; hope they haven’t messed with the dubbing/original soundtrack like some companies do when they release Chinese movies.

One thing that p’s me off is Miramax has hoarded a bunch of the Shaw Brothers titles and is keeping them under wraps to collect dust. Supposedly, a lot of the reason is to capitalize on Kill Bill, et al. And if their track record is anything to go by, IF they do release any of them, they will be heavily edited, redubbed, re-soundtracked, have redone sound effects, and the opening titles will all be changed. It was the biggest mistake to allow Miramax anywhere near the Shaw films. That means a lot of the best martial arts titles (esp. a lot of the Gordon Liu films) will most likely not ever get an Image release, or any release for that matter.

16

There are a lot of remastered movies, but Legendary weapons has one of the best transfers to DVD I have ever seen. It is truly crystal clear.

17

Watched Legendary Weapons and loved it. I haven’t seen it that clear since I saw the actual movie way back when it was newly-released in the theater!

Thinking of maybe picking up The Water Margin, but as I dimly remember it, the fight scenes are kinda so-so (Chang Cheh’s pre-Shaolin era). But the movie itself is a large-scale epic of the kind I like, plus there’s a special feature about Chang Cheh that may add extra worth to it.

18

I really liked water Margin, but not cause of the fights. The final battle is pretty cool though, just because of the way it is set up.

I would recommend Boxer’s Omen over this though.

19

I picked up The Water Margin and The Boxer’s Omen the other day.
Yup, now that I see Boxer’s Omen again, I remember it well; the regurgitated chicken anus, etc. That director had to be a twisted puppy. To be honest, it’s not the sickest movie I’ve seen. Back in the '80s there was a Chinese documentary about weird Asia or something. In one part, they showed a shaman on Borneo going into a trance and taking a live chicken in his hands. Then he ate the living thing whole, including the feathers(!). The whole process was filmed from one angle, uncut, and took maybe five-ten(?) minutes or so.

I liked the Water Margin better, and enjoyed some of the extras on Chang Cheh, David Chiang, and Ti Lung. The movie itself is very well-done and has such a different flavor from some of his earlier films (Duel of Fists, etc.) and way different from his later (Venoms) films. It’s a real epic, though not as large-scale an epic as Chang Cheh’s The Boxer Rebellion or Shaolin Temple (not the Jet Li version). The fights are a bit disappointing, and I’m sorry, but David Chiang just looks weak as a ‘wrestler’. His fights look embarrassingly fake in this one. Ti Lung looked a lot better (as usual), but hardly had any screen time.

Interesting that the two leading protagonists in WM are played by Japanese actors, but they are excellent actors and did quite the job. I was surprised they looked pretty good in their fight scenes, as they aren’t really known as ‘fighting actors’.

20

Wang Chung is the character that stands out the most to me in Water Margin, and I agree, David Chiang did look kind of weak. I heard the sequel has Bolo and Fan Mei wrestling. That sounds worth seeing to me!

On Boxer’s Omen, I totally agree with you. The Fear Factor scene stood out the most to me. The liner notes on Boxer’s Omen talks abotu how the movie is a sequel of sorts to Hex. I have seen a few of this directors movies and he does seem like a bit of a hack. A lot of movies he did are similiar to Boxer’s Omen, but just don’t deliver. The one kung fu movie he did was Killer COnstable, so I can’t say too much bad about the guy.